Heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) generally refers to the concept of locally heating a recording media to reduce the coercivity. This allows the applied magnetic writing fields to more easily direct the magnetization during the temporary magnetic softening caused by the heat source. HAMR allows for the use of small grain media with a larger magnetic anisotropy at room temperature to assure sufficient thermal stability, which is desirable for recording at increased areal densities. HAMR can be applied to any type of magnetic storage media, including tilted media, longitudinal media, perpendicular media, and patterned media. By heating the media, the coercivity is reduced such that the magnetic write field is sufficient to write to the media. Once the media cools to ambient temperature, the coercivity has a sufficiently high value to assure thermal stability of the recorded information.
In disc drives and other transducing systems that can be used with the HAMR process and other types of magnetic recording processes, a transducer is carried by a structure proximate to a recording media. Over time, however, operation of the system can cause wear of the surface of this structure. To protect the structure against wear, an overcoat, which is formed with a relatively thin layer of material such as carbon, can be provided on the surface of the structure that confronts the recording media.